Adaptability

One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras a thief with a sharp sword entered, demanding wither his money or his life.

Shichiri told him: “Do not disturb me. You can find the money in that drawer.” Then he resumed his recitation.

A little while afterwards he stopped and called: “Don’t take it all. I need some to pay taxes with tomorrow.”

The intruder gathered up most of the money and started to leave. “Thank a person when you receive a gift,” Shichiri added. The man thanked him and made off.

A few days afterwards the fellow was caught and confessed, among others, the offense against Shichiri. When Shichiri was called as a witness he said: “This man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him the money and he thanked me for it.”

After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became his disciple.

When one goes to Obaku temple in Kyoto he sees carved over the gate the words “The First Principle”.

The letters are unusually large, and those who appreciate calligraphy always admire them as being a mastepiece.

They were drawn by Kosen two hundred years ago.

When the master drew them he did so on paper, from which the workmen made the large carving in wood.

As Kosen sketched the letters a bold pupil was with him who had made several gallons of ink for the calligraphy and who never failed to criticise his master’s work.

“That is not good,” he told Kosen after his first effort.

“How is this one?”

“Poor. Worse than before,” pronounced the pupil.

Kosen patiently wrote one sheet after another until eighty-four First Principles had accumulated, still without the approval of the pupil.

Then when the young man stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen thought: “Now this is my chance to escape his keen eye,” and he wrote hurriedly, with a mind free from distraction: “The First Principle.”

The bee was flying in its busy work, going from flower to flower, doing what it had to do without questioning anything. The field provided all it needed for its joy and enjoy.

But a terrible drought hit the land. The plants and flowers no longer grew as they did before and the field became a desolated and lifeless barren.

The bee, not knowing what to do, went to ask for advice to a wise bird that lived close by.

“Dear Bird, tell me, Why do’nt I have flowers at will like I had before? I’m trying to understand what has happened and I can’t understand it”.

“Instead of trying to understand, try to pay attention, dear friend. Instead of asking why, thinking about what has happened, pay attention to what surrounds you and you will be able to act as needed, in this case, going to other more fertile lands.

Not all things are solved by thinking about them but observingwhat is happening. So stop thinking and act in whatever way you need to continue living”, said the Bird.

Sometimes, the absurd and inexplicable does not have a logical explanation we can understand. What is more important is that we pay attention to what is in front of you in order to find the best answer to what you need.

Have you adapted succesfully to a big change in your life? Please share in the comments below or tweet @growthhunter